By Jennifer Bain | Published July 13, 2026

Bain There, Done That is Jennifer Bain’s bi-weekly column about travelling Canada in search of quirk.

Subscribe to the Modern Traveller Newsletter to get terrific travel articles like this one straight to your inbox!

**An elk stands beside Hwy. 93A, two years after a 2024 wildfire forced an evacuation of Jasper National Park/Jennifer Bain**

I got lucky the first time I drove Hwy. 93A, a 24-kilometre stretch of old highway that runs parallel to the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park.

A lone cow elk was meandering through the new growth that’s flourishing after 2024’s devastating wildfire, and I dared to stop since I had the narrow road to myself.

Mindful of Parks Canada warnings to stay in my vehicle and three bus lengths away from elk — for their good as much as mine — I pulled out my superzoom (a Nikon Coolpix P950 with an 83x optical zoom) and fired off a half dozen shots.

I love how this elk’s shaggy black neck mane blends in with the charred tree trunks and how its creamy rump almost matches the stones.

She was the first of many elk I’d photograph during my week in Jasper. Yes, I spotted grizzlies. No, I didn’t get good shots from my car. But I did capture photos of other equally exciting animals and birds.

Elk Everywhere

**Check out the velvet antlers on this bull elk in Jasper townsite in June/Jennifer Bain**

Jasperites are just as scared of elk in the spring as bears.

That’s when females aggressively defend their young and can attack without warning.

This fellow is a bull elk though spotted along Connaught Drive in front of the railway tracks in the town of Jasper. It wasn’t until I reviewed my photos that I realized his growing antlers are encased in a soft, furry coating called velvet.

My First Marmots

**A hoary marmot looks like a rug as he rests by Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park/Jennifer Bain**

My camera settings were mucked up when SunDog Tours showed me my first hoary marmot on its Sunrise Wildlife & Ecology of Fire bus tour.

But that just provided incentive to return to the north end of Medicine Lake, on Maligne Lake Road, to see the largest rodent in the park.

This pudgy marmot was draped lazily over a lichen-covered rock.

Nearby, a more wily relative darted in and out of the shoreline rocks and startled two young tourists, who excitedly shouted “it’s a beaver.”

Loons Are Having a Moment

**Loons, this one on Jasper’s Medicine Lake, now remind me of TV series Heated Rivalry/Jennifer Bain**

Now when I see loons, I’ll think of the Canadian gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry instead of our golden coin the Loonie.

“Stupid Canadian wolf bird” is what Russian character Ilya Rozanov dubs them when he hears the diving waterbird’s chilling wail for the first time at Shane Hollander’s cottage.

This one didn’t make a peep, but it looked awfully pretty paddling through a vaguely turquoise area of Medicine Lake.

Fun fact: Jasper’s “disappearing lake” fills with glacial melt waters every summer and then drains out through sinkholes every fall and winter.

Bighorn Sheep Are Rather Easy to Spot

**This bighorn sheep, spotted along Old Fort Point trail in Jasper, has great eyes/Jennifer Bain**

Mating grizzlies scuttled my Old Fort Point hike with the Friends of Jasper (now that would have been a picture), but the consolation prize was bighorn sheep looking rock-like near the top of the bedrock hill we climbed near the usual end of the loop trail.

This photo isn’t as sharp as it should be, but while the curled horns usually get all the attention, there’s something compelling about the sheep’s wide-set eyes.

It’s also a good reminder of what to look for when you’re scanning the landscape for wildlife.

Smart and Sneaky Common Ravens

**Ravens are said to be highly intelligent and we all know they’re excellent scavengers/Jennifer Bain**

Driving north on the Icefields Parkway, I spotted this charismatic raven perched on a sign for Tangle Ridge in a roadside pullout.

It stayed put for several minutes, seemingly indifferent to my presence.

Later that day, checking into Sunwapta Falls Rocky Mountain Lodge in the rain, I stupidly left my trunk open while moving bags to my room. That’s when a wily crow swooped in and made off with my banana.

Zooming in on Mountain Goats

**A mountain goat seeks salt under the Columbia Icefield Skywalk in Jasper National Park/Jennifer Bain**

On my first visit to the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, I only had eyes for the mountain goats.

Apparently, they like to hang out under the glass-floored observation platform and cliff-edge walkway because they feel safe from predators.

This shaggy beauty was busy licking rocks for essential minerals, molting and shedding its heavy winter coat.

Bain There, Done That: My Favourite Jasper Wildlife Moments